


Swimmin in the Sea

by monaboyd_archivist



Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-08-16
Updated: 2004-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-11 18:24:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4446917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monaboyd_archivist/pseuds/monaboyd_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had come to go surfing, he and Dom, but the waves, pretty as they were to watch, weren?t much good for anything else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swimmin in the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Shirasade: this story was originally archived at the Monaboyd.net Archive, which was closed in September 2014 due to software issues and a lack of new submissions for several years . To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in October 2014. I e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact me using the e-mail address on the Monaboyd.net Archive collection profile.

Billy was lying on the sand, flopped down on his stomach, chin resting on his arms. He was watching the waves crash onto the beach, bubbly and soft looking before they danced back, swelling blue-green in the distance.

They had come to go surfing, he and Dom, but the waves, pretty as they were to watch, weren’t much good for anything else. So they had shucked off their clinging wetsuits in favor of less restrictive swim trunks and contented themselves with the more mundane, yet no less amusing, beachside activities.

The first thing Billy had done was bury Dom up to his neck in the sand and then pretend to leave him there. It had been a hilarious sight, Dom’s head sticking up out of the damp sand, hair even wilder than usual from the wind off the ocean and salt of the seawater, his ears protruding pinkly, the beginnings of a sunburn showing along the edges. Dom had pretended to be calm, calling out warning threats to Billy’s retreating back, spelling out the many scenarios in which he would make Billy “suffer the consequences”. Dom had pretended to be calm, but Billy could clearly see the stricken expression on Dom’s face, even from a distance, when a flock of seagulls descended alarmingly close to Dominic’s vulnerable and exposed head.

“Billy!” he’d shrieked, his eyes flitting to a large gull that was particularly near.

Billy had collapsed onto the sand, laughing hysterically at the image of Dom’s head and the gull of questionable intentions. The bird really was staring at Dominic, its head tilting from side to side, seemingly pondering its new discovery and trying to decide whether or not any part of it was edible. Dominic was staring back at it, grey eyes wide with alarm. He feared to let the thing out of his sight even in order to plead more effectively with Billy for his release.

The gull screeched loudly and Dominic dared to shoot Billy a panicked look, his eyebrows rising towards the sun bleached hair that wreathed his face in disarray, stirring in the wind. “Billy, Billy!” he shrieked again, his voice shrill and cracking. “He’s going to peck at me! I can see it in his beady eyes.” Dominic narrowed his own eyes accusingly at the gull.

Billy rolled in the sand, clutching desperately at his sides.

“Shoo!” Dominic yelled at the bird, jerking his head. “Shoo! Go on, get out of here!”

The gull tottered closer to Dominic’s stricken face.

“Bills, I swear to fucking god…” Dominic’s voice was deadly serious.

Billy was breathless with laughter but he hauled himself up, making a big production out of brushing the sand from his arms and legs before ambling over to Dominic and shooing the gull away with waving arms. After that, Billy decided to dig Dom out. He knew he’d have to face Dom’s inevitable wrath sooner or later but it had been more than worth it. Even after Dominic had tackled him and shoved a handful of gritty, abrasive sand down the front of Billy’s swim trunks.

Surprisingly, Dominic hadn’t tried anything more. He’d simply looked at Billy, his eyes slits of warning, and said “Just wait, Boyd.” Billy laughed.

It was getting late now and the sun was dipping towards the ocean, close to setting. He and Dominic were sprawled in the sand, soaking up the last rays of daylight, watching the waves in companionable silence. Billy sighed contentedly; turning his head to look at Dominic, taking in his profile as Dom stared ahead, watching the water. The tip of his ear was bright red, definitely sunburned, Billy thought. He smiled.

Dominic turned to Billy, observing his grin. “What?” he asked warily.

“Your ears, they look a little red. Didn’t you put sunscreen on them?”

Dominic reached up to touch his ear gently, frowning at the wave of pain his fingertip caused. Billy laughed. “I told you,” he said.

Dominic leaned closer, reaching for Billy’s nose; he pinched it lightly, drawing a yelp of pain from Billy. “Your nose, it looks a little red. Didn’t you put sunscreen on it?”

Billy batted Dominic’s hand away, patting his nose gingerly. “No. I didn’t. And yes, it is burnt.”

“Am I burnt anywhere else?” Dominic asked, twisting his body around, prodding places gently to test for pain.

“I don’t think so. You’d know by now if you were. What about me?”

Dominic surveyed Billy’s bare back. “No. You have some freckles though. I never noticed before.”

Billy was silent while Dominic studied the freckles sprinkled lightly over Billy’s shoulders, fading down his back. He’d seen Billy get freckles on his forehead and across his nose when they’d been out surfing for a long time. Dom liked them, they reminded him of Pippin, but they’d never lasted very long, always disappearing back into Billy’s skin after a few beach-less days. Dom reached out and traced a finger over Billy’s shoulders. “Right here,” he said.

Billy’s skin shivered under Dominic’s finger but he stayed still. Dominic laid his hand flat on Billy’s back, right between his shoulder blades, feeling the sun that Billy’s skin had soaked up. It was warm and salt-water soft. Dominic moved his hand over Billy’s back, following the freckles. Billy tensed as Dominic’s hand slipped down his side, jerking away from the touch.

Dom stared at him curiously and then broke into a devilish grin. “You’re ticklish!” he accused, his voice lilting with humor.

“No I’m not. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Billy countered, still leaning away from Dominic.

Dominic continued to grin, his eyes flashing wickedly at Billy. “You are,” he said matter-of-factly. “I can tell.”

“Oh, really?” Billy snarked, raising his eyebrows in what he hoped was a condescending expression.

“Yes. Really,” Dominic answered. He inched towards Billy, slowly, deliberately, hands poised in front of him, fingers curled in the universal ‘I’m going to tickle you until you can’t breathe’ gesture.

Billy tried to maintain his fearless expression. It worked until Dominic lunged at him, fingers digging into Billy’s ribs, brushing over the skin there. Billy dissolved into a gale of frantic laughter, falling backwards into the sand, Dominic looming over him.

“Dom! Oh my god…” Billy strangled on his words, hardly able to breathe much less speak.

Dominic straddled Billy’s flailing form, knees digging into the sand on ether side of Billy’s hips. He jammed his fingers under Billy’s arms, tickling him ferociously.

“Stop! Oh, oh! Stop, Dom. Please!” Billy writhed beneath Dominic, his mouth open in gasping breaths, eyes going from wide and shocked, to squinted, to tightly clenched. He tried to curl up into a ball, bring in his legs and arms to cover all vulnerable and ticklish areas. It was impossible with Dom sitting on him. “Gnnnuaaaagh!” he gasped.

Dom was enjoying this all far too much. He was laughing as well, watching avidly as Billy squirmed and wriggled. He stilled his fingers for a minute, giving Billy time to catch his breath a little. “Where else are you ticklish then, eh?”

Billy panted, looking up at Dominic. “Dom…get…off.”

Dominic grinned down at Billy, delighted at the power he wielded. “After what you did to me earlier?”

Billy whined, his eyes moving frantically from side to side, looking in vain for an escape. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he shouted desperately.

Dominic pressed his fingers into Billy’s ribs, and Billy let out a short burst of giggles. “That’s not good enough.” He smiled maniacally down at Billy’s face, curled up with helpless laughter, his nose bright pink from the sunburn.

‘No no no!” Billy pleaded, his words breaking up into short giggles as Dom wriggled his fingers slowly into Billy’s ribs, picking up speed. “No! Oh my god, Dom! Gnahhhhahahaa!” He melted into incoherency.

“Promise you’ll never say a word to anyone about it! No stories about Dominic and the murderous sea gull.”

“What? No! I can’t give that up!” Billy squirmed, but Dominic’s thighs held him fast.

“Fine!” Dominic redoubled his tickling.

“Ok ok! Never! I promise! Just stop!”

Dominic paused. “Do you mean it?”

Billy tried to catch his breath, nodding fervently.

“If you’re lying…” Dominic warned.

“I’m not! I said I promise!”

“Ok then,” Dominic said, straightening up, taking his fingers away from Billy’s sensitive sides. He crossed his arms over his chest, but didn’t climb off. Billy breathed heavily underneath him, exhausted from the laughter and the struggle.

“I hate you,” he intoned, glaring up at Dominic.

Dominic smiled down at him. “I love you too, Bills.”


End file.
